With around 1.5 million dairy goats in France, goat's milk products are very important to the dairy industry. Like other mammals, in order for dairy goats to lactate to produce milk, they must become pregnant and bear offspring. 

Pregnancy and giving birth places a high physical strain on these animals. When goats are bred heavily for milk production, it leads to shortening their lifespan. Currently, dairy goats are slaughtered at 6-7 years of age, mainly due to exhaustion, although under natural conditions they could live twice as long. 

FOUR PAWS' main interest in this project is the possibility to reduce this number of offspring, in order to prevent unnecessary suffering of dairy goat kids and give dairy goats a longer, less stressful life. 

Goat offspring known as, 'kids', that are not required for dairy production or herd renewal are challenging to market and have limited economic value. This issue is particularly problematic in France, where over 95% of goats are specialized breeds, mostly Saanen and Alpine goats, used for milk production. These breeds generally have a low fattening capacity, making it 'uneconomical' for farmers to raise the kids for meat production. Similar other agricultural sectors that focus on in female-derived products such as cow's milk and eggs, practical and ethical problems arise due to the limited options for surplus (mostly male) offspring. 

The dairy kids that are sold to large industrial fattening farms, are typically sent a few days after their birth. When goat kids are transported to a fattening facility, they are mixed with kids from a large number of various farms, resulting in groups of very different ages housed together. This exposes them to a range of stress factors at a very young age, increasing the likelihood of immunosuppression and making them more susceptible to infections. As a result, these kids may require antibiotic treatments.

There are currently limited options to address the dilemma faced by the dairy goat industry. FiBL France, in collaboration with FOUR PAWS, is working to tackle this problem.

The two main research questions are: 

• Is it possible for female goats to lactate without being pregnant and not using hormones?
• If the answer to the first question is yes, then is there an improvement in their overall welfare?

To answer these questions, FiBL France will carry out a detailed study on 10 dairy goat farms in southern France, to determine the potential for lactation without pregnancy. 

As the main funder of the project, FOUR PAWS also contributes with its expertise in farm animal welfare assessment. Furthermore, a key focus of the project collaboration is to communicate and disseminate the knowledge gained at an international level, e.g. through barn schools, living labs, farmer meetings together with relevant research and stakeholder networks. 

On 19 April 2023, FiBL France and FOUR PAWS organised a kick-off meeting at a dairy goat farm in the south of France. The aim was to bring stakeholders together to discuss the project and disseminate this innovative approach. 

_{More information can be found on the project here:} 

_{Study of Factors for Natural Induction of Lactation in Non-gestating Goats and Consequences on Their Welfare, FiBL. [accessed 2024 Nov 19]. https://www.fibl.org/en/themes/projectdatabase/projectitem/project/2345}